Perry outlasts Madison in overtime victory

It has so often happened over the years that neighborhood rivals Madison and Perry have displayed the best of what high school sports has to offer when they get together on any field — or court — of play.

Their boys basketball matchup on Feb. 21 at Madison was no exception, and in fact could be cited as one of the area’s best games played all season.

The visiting Pirates survived a back and forth encounter that went to overtime, overcame a late technical foul that could have been costly, and went on to prevail, 87-84.

Perry trailed, 80-78, in the extra session after Madison’s Chris Blauman made an and-1 with 1:35 remaining. Perry senior Nate Cubbison responded with a 3-point play of his own, and his freshman brother Jake followed with two free throws.

The Pirates’ Devon Holbert got a steal and was fouled and converted both, making it 85-80 Perry. Madison’s Ryan Bowers sank two free throws and then drew the technical, making both to cut it to 85-84.

Perry got two free throws from Noah Stevenson to stretch it to 87-84, and Madison called timeout with 5 seconds left. 3-point attempts went off the mark, and the buzzer sounded with Perry on top.

“That was fun,” Perry coach Al Iacofano said. “I don’t remember the last time (this matchup) came down to an overtime possession. Good environment, both teams played really, really hard. Coach (Nick Gustin) had those guys ready to go and knocking down shots like crazy. We scored our season high, but we had to work for every basket.”

Nate Cubbison and junior Jaylen Anderson led the Pirates with 20 points each. Holbert and Jake Cubbison each tallied 14, while Stevenson finished with 10.

“It’s big, it’s a big rivalry,” Nate Cubbison said in regards to beating the Blue Streaks. “I have a lot of friends on their team, so that makes it even bigger and better.”

Anderson didn’t start the game, but he was first off the bench and was a catalyst whenever Perry had to answer a Madison run. The game saw 11 lead changes. Anderson knocked down three of Perry’s seven 3s, and added three steals, and three assists.

“I just think we had to stick together,” Anderson said on what it took to come out on top. “It was a long ending, and with the technical foul that happened and just how good of a game it was, we just had to stick together as a team.”

Madison had a 20-17 lead after one quarter, and led 32-26 in the second before Perry closed the half with a 13-4 run to take a 39-36 halftime lead.

An 11-2 run by the Blue Streaks to start the third quarter put them ahead, 47-41. Perry responded and took the lead back on a triple by Anderson, followed quickly by a steal and score by teammate Drew Schiano. The Pirates held a slim, 5453 lead going into the final frame.

“We talked about that in the locker room,” Iacofano said regarding his team’s ability to answer runs. “That’s an area in which we have really grown in the last 10 or 11 games.”

It was all knotted up at 68-68 late in the fourth when Holbert scored to put Perry ahead. Bowers hit a 3 on a pass from Dmitri Dragas to give Madison a one-point lead with 1:43 left, but Cubbison sank a trey to make it 73-71 Perry.

Madison senior J.D. Galovic made a nice move to the bucket in traffic and hit a layup to send the game to overtime.

“It was just a great game,” Madison coach Nick Gustin said. “Guys that know each other playing as hard as they can to come out with a victory, and we just came up three points short.”

Galovic scored a gamehigh 23 points for the Blue Streaks. Bowers added 15, Alex Dragas had 12, and Blauman finished with 11.

“You can’t fault the effort of either team,” Gustin said. “Our guys kept battling, it was back and forth, and I think the biggest lead was six or seven points. That’s what border wars are supposed to be about.”

Perry finished the regular season with a record of 13-9, and will host Chardon in a D-II sectional semifinal on Feb. 24. Madison is now 14-8, and will play host to North in a D-I sectional semifinal on Feb. 26.